NEW YORK
(Reuters) - Stock markets fell worldwide on Friday as results from some big
U.S. companies disappointed and tobacco shares dropped, while oil prices had
their
biggest weekly percentage rise this year.
Altria Group
(MO.N) fell 9.5 percent and was the biggest drag on the S&P 500, while
U.S.-listed shares of British American Tobacco (BATS.L) (BTI.N) dropped 7
percent, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it aims to reduce
nicotine levels in cigarettes while exploring measures to shift smokers towards
e-cigarettes.
"It's
going to take some time to play out, but those names all moved" on the
news, said Michael O'Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading in
Greenwich, Connecticut.
Amazon's (AMZN.O)
stock fell after the world's largest online retailer reported late Thursday a
jump in retail sales along with a profit slump. Results from Exxon Mobil
(XOM.N) and Starbucks (SBUX.O) also disappointed.
Despite
Friday's share reactions, second-quarter results have come in mostly better
than expected, and stocks are trading near record highs.
The Dow
Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 33.76 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at
21,830.31, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 3.32 points, or 0.13 percent, to 2,472.1
and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 7.51 points, or 0.12 percent, to
6,374.68.
MSCI's
47-country All World share index .MIWD00000PUS was down 0.2 percent, while the
European STOXX 600 index was down 1 percent.
Oil prices
rose, extending this week's strong rally built on news that key OPEC members
pledged to reduce exports and bigger-than-expected U.S. inventory drawdowns.
Brent crude
futures LCOc1 rose $1.03 to settle at $52.52 per barrel, while U.S. crude
futures CLc1 rose 67 cents to settle at $49.71.
For the
week, U.S. crude rose nearly 9 percent, its biggest weekly gain this year. The
gains in Brent pushed the difference between the two benchmarks to the widest
in two months.
"The
bullish inventory report this week has helped confirm the declining trajectory
of global inventories," said Sarp Ozkan, analyst at Drillinginfo.com.
That, along with Saudi Arabia reducing exports, has "buoyed the
expectations of continued inventory normalization."
The U.S.
dollar was broadly lower as a combination of uninspiring U.S. economic data and
political uncertainty kept traders biased toward the euro and other world
currencies.
U.S. gross
domestic product growth picked up to 2.6 percent in the second quarter,
matching expectations of economists polled by Reuters.
In
Washington, U.S. Senate Republicans failed early on Friday to overturn the
healthcare law known as Obamacare, in a stinging blow to President Donald
Trump.
The euro
moved higher against the dollar EUR=, and was last up 0.7 percent at $1.1751.
The Swiss franc CHF= fell for a fourth straight day and was set for its largest
monthly drop in six years against the euro EURCHF=.
U.S.
Treasury yields fell. Other data showed that U.S. labor costs increased less
than expected in the second quarter. The Employment Cost Index, the broadest
measure of labor costs, increased 0.5. percent in the April-June period.
Benchmark
10-year notes US10YT=RR rose 5/32 in price to yield 2.29 percent, down from
2.31 percent on Thursday.
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